In a conventional windshield fixing structure of a body wherein both side ends of a windshield were fixed respectively to a pair of front pillars, the front pillars were disposed in a slanting forward direction of a steering wheel, which caused an increase of a dead angle of a driver due to obstruction of a visibility in the slanting forward direction of the driver.
FIGS. 6, 7, and 8 respectively show a windshield fixing structure 2 of a conventional body. FIG. 8 is a sectional diagram in a horizontal direction of a windshield fixing structure 2 shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, and shows alignment among a windshield 4, front pillars 6, a steering wheel 8, and a driver 10. The slanting forward direction of a front pillar 6 is a dead angle C of visibility when seeing from the driver 10.
More particularly, in the windshield fixing structure 2, a pair of front pillars 6 for fixing a windshield 4 of a body 1 are positioned in a substantially slanting forward direction of the driver 10 sitting on the driver seat. This obstructs the visibility of the driver 10 in the slanting forward direction, and the range shown in FIG. 8 is a dead angle C.
In view of these circumstances, an enlargement of forward visibility by widening the area of a windshield has been suggested. For instance, you can see this on page 24 of Automotive Engineering Directory Volume 13 titled “Body of a passenger car.” In this aspect, however, it is impossible to prevent front pillars from producing a dead angle obstructing visibility in a slanting forward direction because the front pillars are disposed at the corners of window sides. Further, the Japanese Patent Publication No. 60-99715 discloses a windshield bent at the corners of window sides. In this aspect, it is also impossible to prevent a dead angle obstructing visibility from being produced because front pillars are disposed at the corners of the window sides.
Accordingly, each of side panels 40 can be reinforced by increasing the width of an end part 42 of the side panel 40 like a dotted line A, but it is not preferable to increase the width of the end part 42 due to an extreme decrease of the area of a door 54. On the other hand, when the width of the end part 42 of the side panel 40 is decreased like a dotted line B, as mentioned above, there may be fear that the end part 42 of the side panel 40 does not have sufficient strength to support a load imposed from a roof of the body through the windshield 24 and the front pillars 26.
In addition, the applicant of the present invention suggested a device shown in the Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 7-17616. In this device, a windshield bent at the corners of window sides is disclosed as in the case mentioned above, but no specific structure of side panels (portions to support front pillars) to support a load imposed from a roof of the body has been disclosed in the publication. In other words, the side panels require strength to sustain the load imposed from the roof of the body. It is, however, mechanically preferable to dispose the side panels substantially just below the front pillars when the front pillars are positioned at the corners of the window sides. The problem with structure is that the size of a front door has to be as small as it may cause inconvenience when getting on or off the front seat to secure space to provide side panels.